The Slayer Academy Series
by Luna del Cielo
Summary: How does one train hundreds of new Slayers? Enter the Slayer Academy where teenage Slayers are arriving from different countries and up until now had lived entirely different lives; but they have one thing in common: Destiny.
1. Prologue

**The Slayer Academy Series: Prologue**

"_Into every generation a Slayer is Born_

_One girl in all the world_

_She alone will have the strength and the skill_

_To battle the Forces of Darkness"_

Before mankind was born demons plagued the earth. They made it their playground where death, torture, and madness bloomed like creeping ivy. Eventually their dominion was lost as humankind rose as the prevalent species of the planet. The pure demons were killed and expelled into the various levels of hell but before one demon was sent away it fed on a human being's blood. A dark magick occurred and the essence of the demon poured into the corpse as their blood was mixed. At nightfall the corpse rose from the dead and retained the memories of the person but a demon lived inside instead of a soul. This was the first vampire and as the years passed these creatures increased in number. Living off of human blood, these vampires terrorized the humans who often could not fight back due to the undead creature's supernatural strength and reflexes.

Until three wise men of a tribe realized how to create what they needed against all the demons and vampires: A Protector. All the magick required was the essence of a demon which they acquired through magick and trickery. When they were ready they took a teenage girl from their tribe and chained her to the cave floor. She cried out in fear but they explained that they would be giving her the power to fight back the forces of darkness. Inserting the essence of the demon into the girl she changed irrevocably. Her body knew strength, agility, stamina, and she possessed great healing powers. The three wise men sent her into the world to defeat the demons and vampires in order to protect the humankind.

She was the Slayer.

Upon her death the magick of the wise men lived on to choose a successor whose body received the same gifts as the First Slayer. For thousands of years this chain of sisterhood continued as young women were called to protect and to slay.

For thousands of years it continued until the Slayer Buffy Anne Summers, the Last Guardian of the Hellmouth. This Slayer disrupted the chain twice. The Master Vampire drowned her and left her for dead, yet a valiant friend named Xander Harris revived her and brought her back to life. This act called a second slayer named Kendra. Upon Kendra's quick demise at the hands of the vampire Drusilla, a new slayer was called to fight with Buffy: Faith. Then Buffy Summers died to save the world from an apocalypse and the chain of power was set back to its original intentions.

But it was not meant to be. A Witch named Willow Rosenberg extracted Buffy Summers' soul from heaven and resurrected the Slayer. Once again the line was terribly disrupted. The magick that held this line of power began to fall apart and the First Evil took this opportunity to begin eradicating the Slayer lineage. However, numerous different forces ensured that the First Evil lost its war to regain Earth as its demonic enterprise.

One force involved the Witch Willow Rosenberg harnessing the power of the Slayer line from its great heirloom, the Scythe, that was forged by the ancient Guardians of the Slayers. Through a great spell she was able to distribute the power of the Slayer into all Potential Slayers. Each girl who could be a Slayer became a Slayer. Hundreds were called and the Forces of Good rejoiced at their surge in power.

Only one problem remained. How do the Forces of Good ensure that those hundreds of newly formed Slayers are properly trained for their life of battle?

Enter the Slayer Academy, founded by the Head of the newly formed Watcher Council, Rupert Giles. Located in Great Britain inside an ancient castle, the Slayer Academy has been named as the starting point for all Slayers and was founded two months after the closing of the Sunnydale Hellomouth. A coven of witches that worked with the Council found each Slayer that was called and then other Slayers brought her to the Academy. The teenage Slayers arrived from different countries, spoke different languages, and had lived entirely different lives, but they had one thing in common: Destiny.

Here are the stories of these Slayers as they embrace their newfound destiny and learn just exactly what it means to be a Vampire Slayer.

"_From now on every girl in the world who might be a Slayer will be a Slayer. _

_Every girl who could have that power will have that power_

_Can stand up, will stand up. _

_Slayers. _

_Every one of us"_

_

* * *

_

**A/N:**

As my faithful readers of '_A Vampire Slayer in Middle-Earth' _may know, I am quite curious as to what happens after season 7. Sure, Joss Whedon has his comic book series but I'm not a stellar fan; I can't really get into the Big Bad that is Twilight, Xander/Dawn freaks me out, the almost Buffy/Xander, & I dislike the weird relationships amongst the Scoobies; plus I'm broke so I've only read a couple issues.

In my previously mentioned story I explore the life of one Potential (an OC of mine) 5 years after the finale. In this series I would like to explore the lives of more the Scoobies and Potentials after season 7. Enter the Slayer Academy.

Here I will explore their lives, singling out several Potentials and of course our Scoobies. As to what will happen to them and who all I will be focusing on, that is still being worked out.

I wanted to post this to get some feedback. I love feedback and I love bouncing ideas off of people so please review :) I would definitely appreciate it!

**---**

**DISCLAIMER:**

As always, Joss Whedon (a God amongst Men) and 20th Century Fox own all the Buffy Universe. I only own the pain, happiness, and hijinks that I inflict upon those wonderful characters. Although… I would be sorely tempted to give away my first born if only Mr. Whedon would give me the rights to Buffy… Kidding! _(kind of ;)_


	2. Move In Day

**Chapter One: Move In Day**

Kennedy surveyed the castle front hall with satisfaction as it bustled with activity. Two dozen girls dragged suitcases and carried boxes towards the dormitory wing where at least one-hundred slayers were already housed. It was already July and here in jolly old England the warmth of summer was in full swing. After her and Willow's mini-vacation following the closing of the Hellmouth (Paris, courtesy of Daddy's credit card) they followed Giles here to help with setting up the Slayer Academy. Since the majority of the Watchers were killed by the First, '_including my own'_, she thought grimly, Giles recruited retired Watchers and those involved at Sunnydale to help him prepare for creating the Academy.

Psyched to have a leadership role at the school, Kennedy was looking forward for classes to start. In the last two months she had taken out her share of vamps and demons and couldn't wait to start training the newbies. Helping Buffy train them during the First Evil war had been crazy fun, although Willow had made her promise to be nice and not call anybody a maggot during training here.

Damn. She really enjoyed the power trip but had agreed to tone it down a notch.

Speaking of which… Arms encircled her waist and she leaned back against her girlfriend. "Hey baby," Willow said. "Excited to see all the new faces?"

Turning, Kennedy gave her a light kiss. "You betcha my Wicca Woman. We thought we had an army back in Sunnydale, now *_this_* is an army." Her thick lips curled into a huge smile and she pondered the possibilities.

* * *

Sofia Ramirez's eyes swelled to the size of saucer plates as she took in the huge castle in front of her. This place was ridiculous looking! It looked like half of Cleveland could live here! Ugh, speaking of which she was lightweight starting to miss home. Once Willow had found her and explained the truth about her sudden super powers she and Giles, the Council Head, had procured a spot for her at Oxford in the fall and bid her to stay in England during the summer to train.

Although happy to finally be in a place where she didn't have to play Secret Identity Girl (as *_if_* she would tell her parents. Her mama would probably call her crazy and do ten Hail Marys), Sofia was beginning to feel apprehensive about what she was getting into. There were dozens of girls milling around and she felt out of place.

"_Hola, como estas? Soy Caridad, una Cazadora. Y tu eres?" _Sofia looked up in surprise to see a young Latina woman holding a clipboard and giving her a gentle smile. Her chin-length dyed blond hair was pushed behind her ears and she was wearing a fierce purplish lipstick. Girl definitely had style. Sofia felt a bit self-conscious because she had been traveling for the last thirteen hours and she knew she looked a hot mess in comparison. Her black curls were starting to go crazy in the mild humidity, she needed to brush her teeth, and she was outfitted in a Lebron tank top and long basketball shorts. Typically she enjoyed dressing up and didn't like the idea of meeting all these new people looking like a bum.

Clearly Caridad thought she was a Slayer from another country since she was speaking Spanish. While Sofia may have taken offense at such an action if someone else had done it, she didn't mind as much since this Caridad was like her and probably was just trying to be helpful.

"_Estoy bien." _Sofia snorted. "_En realidad, estoy nerviosa_," she admitted, "_y soy Sofia Ramirez de Cleveland, OH._"

"Oh! Cleveland!" Caridad laughed. "_Lo siento, hermana_. It's amazing how many different countries girls have been traveling from. I'm trying to hit up all potential Spanish speakers while Chao-Ahn is hitting up the Chinese and we also have some trained Slayers who speak Punjabi, Arabic, and some of the European ones." She shook Sofia's hand and said, "It's good to meet you. Actually," she pulled Sofia into an embrace and kissed her on the cheek, "I thought you deserved a real greeting."

Sofia smiled shyly back at her fellow Slayer. "Thanks. That kinda made me feel a bit more at home. This is kinda the first time I've ever left home and my family before."

Caridad shrugged. "I'm feeling you on that. I'm from Miami, _si, soy Cubana_," she added, "and I'm not used to being so far from home either. But you'll get used to it. Just think of us as your new family."

"Thanks."

"_No problemo_. Now, if you keep following the path you'll find yourself in the front hall. Check in there and they'll show you to your room."

"_Gracias Caridad. Hasta luego_," Sofia smiled and began carting her luggage again."

"_Hasta luego_," Caridad called. Caridad felt pleased with how the day was progressing so far. That Sofia girl seemed real nice and so far the six girls that she had met coming through today seemed sweet as well. She was definitely excited about all the Slayers getting together in one big school like a huge extended family.

Sadly, for her it was the only family she had left. Caridad had *_no_* idea that evil existed a year ago. Sure, her family priest ranted about it a lot every Sunday. But really-really, who believes in that stuff for real? She was just an average sixteen-year old girl who got good grades, lived in the suburbs, and had a huge family that consisted of her parents, three sisters and five brothers. But one night after the Homecoming dance she came home to witness the dead bodies of her family and her older brother Alejandro struggling with some strange guy with alphabet eyes and a crazy knife. Alphabet eyes sliced Alejandro and Caridad just booked it when he turned to her. She ran out of there like it was the morning of Black Friday and she needed a new flat-screen TV.

Eventually, Mr. Giles got in contact with her and she headed to Sunnydale. In her darker moments she felt all alone in the world. But today, her optimism shined like the summer sun. She may have lost her _familia _but she had gained hundreds of sisters.

It wasn't quite a happily ever after, but it was a good start.

* * *

Rona wandered the halls of the castle trying to remember where the library was. Mr. Giles had requested that she print off 'The Slayer Handbook' that he had been working on all summer so she could make some copies for everyone.

Which totally blows. Just saying. Honestly, here she is: A Slayer of four months and she was reduced to being errand girl. When Mr. Giles had given her the instructions she just kinda stared at him before she drawled, "Really?" Honestly. She had been tempted to do a little jig and respond with a 'Yessa Masser' but Mr. Giles had seemed way too tense for a smart ass remark. Not that Rona felt really comfortable with him just yet anyways.

After Sunnydale she had gone back to New York to stay with her family and give them the word on what she was going through (what an experience *that* had been). She's been here for the last month and its been a lot of prep work for all the other slayers.

"Ah, there you are," she muttered as she discovered the library doors. They were large and ornate; it took a good tug to yank them open. The interior of the library was decadent. Rows and rows of bookcases, ornate artwork, mahogany desks, and plush chairs made up the space. Dawn had convinced Giles to go all 21st century so there were some computers. However, only one was functioning since they were waiting on tech support.

Problem was, no one knew who that was. Yeah… there was a severe lack of organization and chain of command going on.

Well, except everyone knew Buffy and Giles were at the top. Rona rolled her eyes. Lord knows that Buffy was always going to make herself the Queen Bee of bossing people around.

"Hey!" As Rona rounded a bookcase she spotted the one person who totally should have been Mr. Giles' lapdog instead of her.

Andrew jumped up in his chair like a scared boy who had his hand in the cookie jar. He turned around and smile brightly. "Oh, hey Rona! I was just, erm, working on some battle simulations for all of you." He continued to eye her nervously and smile brightly. She didn't think it was her. Her dreads were pulled back into a low pony-tail and she didn't really care about fashion; she was fond of her baggy sweats, Tims, and tees. So she didn't think he was looking at her funny because she looked like her normal self. No… He was probably up to something.

She crossed her arms. "Yeah, well Mr. Giles needs me to print something off. So get up, I'm working here." Andrew was one weird kid. She had first seen him tied to a chair and he really hadn't risen in her eyes. Ok, yes, he had his moments of helpfulness and really seemed to care about being a part of the Slayer Academy. Overall though? Weird kid.

Andrew's eyes darted around and she saw that he was nonchalantly stretching to cover up the computer screen. "Certainly Rona. Now, if you just scoot over there I will finish up this battle simulation and hand this over to you."

Rona smirked and yanked his arm away. On the video screen was definitely some type of computer game involving elves, dwarves, and one of them had a Mohawk like Mr. T. "Battle simulation?" she asked with a laugh.

Andrew huffed and crossed his arms. "Yes!" he said defensively.

She just continued staring at him.

He said. "Okay… Its World of Warcraft. But I swear its just like a battle simulation program!"

Rona bust up laughing. "Dude, please tell me… Isn't that thing like super geeky? Oh man, I can't wait to tell Vi and Caridad."

"Whatever you do, don't tell Mr. Giles!" Andrew pleaded.

Rona raised her eyebrows. "Why not?"

"Well, um, erm," he spewed verbal pauses. "I kinda put the monthly fee on the Council's credit card," he said in a small voice.

Her jaw dropped open. "Are you for real?"

"Well, it *_is_* a battle simulation and could be really help-"

Rona cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Whatever. Not my problem." She grabbed the mouse and clicked out of the weird computer game.

"Nooooo! But I didn't get a chance to save my progress with my Night Elf, _Senor Esponjoso_!"

"_Senor Esponjoso_?"

Andrew looked into the distance fondly. "Yes, back when I was on the run from Evil Willow we hid out in the wide, wonderful world of _Mex-ico _where the sun was hot and the drinks were stiff." Andrew winced briefly. "Well, actually I only had a drink once and it made me feel funny so I stopped. Anyways, my Night Elf's name in English is Mr. Angry."

Eying him warily, Rona pushed him out of the chair and got to work on The Slayer Handbook.

Yeah. That kid was definitely weird.

* * *

"This is kind of fun!" Vi said brightly.

Xander winced at her loud, cheerful voice. He, Buffy, Willow, and Faith had gone out a pub last night to celebrate their last night before more responsibilities were thrust on their shoulders. He definitely had a bit too much of the working man's drink to endure working the front desk at the Slayer Academy. Vi was a sweet girl from Texas who was definitely starting to overcome her shyness with an enthusiasm that his hangover was not appreciating at the moment.

"Yeah, fun," he answered.

Vi laughed and shook her head. "You okay, Xander? You seem pretty out of it."

He shrugged. "Well, it is a bit hard to be focusing when a miniature circus has set up three rings of pain inside my skull." He raised an eyebrow and looked at her out of his one eye. Dealing with the after-effects of Caleb had definitely been a process but he was dealing. Sometimes he dealt with alcohol, but not in a scary Uncle Rory kind of way. More in a piratey-rum and wenches kind of way; in a fun way of course. Well, usually.

Not right now.

"Aw, you poor thing," she cooed. "Do you want me get you some painkillers from the nurse's station? I can get you some juice too."

Xander smiled. This particular slayer was way too nice and unquestionably had a maternal streak. "Nah, its okay. I took some not too long ago."

"Alright. Sure you don't want some juice? I concocted the perfect hangover recipe years ago."

"Sheesh. Years ago? How long have you been drinking?" Xander asked in a bewildered tone.

Vi winced and readjusted her pink beret and smoothed back her chin-length red hair. "Never really have," she admitted. "After my parents divorced my mom went through some partying times. No big," she said quickly with wide eyes. Vi obviously did not want any pity. "But I learned pretty quick how to take care of her." She shrugged. "Its my thing."

Squeezing her shoulder, Xander gave her his infamous grin. "Thanks Vi, I'll take this perfect drink of yours. Until then, I'll man the desk alone and check in all the newbies."

She cheerfully. "Great! I'll be right back."

Xander knew all to well the effects of an alcoholic in the family. His respect for the new slayer deepened and he promised himself to be a bit more cheerful when he returned.

Because, unhappily, he realized his gloomy mood was far too similar to his dad's after a rough night.

* * *

Buffy sipped her giant triple mocha and planted her feet on Giles' desk in his office. "Alright Sir Council Head, Kennedy just reported in and it seems everything is going smoothly."

"Excellent, Buffy. And must I ask you to stop creating nicknames for me?" Giles poured some boiling water into his tea cup and walked back to his desk. "And please, for the love of all that is holy, take your boots off my desk. Its brand new."

"Ah yes," said Faith as she serenely took a sip of her coffee. Well, Buffy wasn't sure if it was a coffee. Faith had called it an Irish coffee and Buffy was pretty sure that involved alcohol. "It's so shiny."

"And has that new wood smell," Buffy offered brightly.

"Perfect for brand new Head of the Watcher's Council," Faith sing-songed.

"Yes. Erm." Giles began cleaning his glasses. "True as that is, it is certainly not as wonderful as my father led me to believe while growing up. We have a good deal of work ahead of us and tonight at dinner will be our first major moment."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Giles, we know. You've been fussing over it like a Bridezilla. 'Cept, I guess you'd be a Giles-zilla." She giggled. "Kinda sounds like Godzilla."

Faith laughed and set her Irish coffee down on the desk. She grabbed some paperclips and pantomimed them running away from Giles. "Ah, no!" she cried in a squeaky voice. "it's the Giles-zilla! Run before he attacks us with tweed!"

Buffy took her pencil and had it 'chase' after the paperclips. "Rwar!" she cried in a deep voice. "Stop running, for I am Giles-zilla! Running is against the rules! Come back here and stand up straight so you have good posture! Or I shall read a 13th century book in Aramaic to you!"

The two slayers cracked up laughing.

Giles grabbed the corner of his glasses with one hand and peered over them at the girls. "Are you quite finished?"

Their laughter subsided. "Yeah," they muttered.

"Excellent. Now…" Giles eyes wandered to the end of his desk. "Faith! You have to remember to use a coaster!" Giles place a coaster underneath her drink.

Faith rolled her eyes. "Yes sir." She added in an undertone, "Giles-zilla."

With an exasperated sigh, Giles gave them a haughty look. "Now, back to discussing tonight and the rest of the Slayer Academy's first week."

Buffy and Faith settled themselves comfortably in the plus chair with a sigh. Discussing everything with Giles was tiring.

Well, at least Faith had the support of Ireland. As Giles began talking, she took a looooong swig of her drink.

* * *

**A/N:**

So, what do ya think? We've had an opportunity to glimpse into the lives of Kennedy, Willow, Sofia Ramirez (my OC from my other story; I love her so she gets to be here too haha), Caridad, Rona, Andrew, Vi, Xander, Giles, Buffy, and Faith. The story will be centered around the younger slayers of course, but a writer's gotta have the Scoobies :) I may also do some writing with Dawn and maybe do Chao-Ahn's POV too.

Now… On to writing the next chapter as I figure out just what exactly its like to have a castle full of super hero-type teenage girls :D What would you like to see happen???

**Vocab:**

_*"Hola, como estas? Soy Caridad, una Cazadora. Y tu eres?" _: Hello, how are you? I'm Caridad, a Slayer. And you are?

_*Estoy bien… En realidad, estoy nerviosa… y soy Sofia Ramirez de Cleveland, OH_.": I'm fine… In reality, I'm nervous… And I'm Sofia Ramirez from Cleveland, OH

_*Lo siento, hermana: _I'm sorry, sister

_*Si, soy Cubana: _Yes, I'm Cuban

_*Gracias Caridad. Hasta luego: _Thank you Caridad. See you later.

_*Really-really: _No, this isn't a typo. It's a form of speech that people use in a conversation.

*_Familia: _family

*_Senor Esponjoso_: Andrew thought this meant '_Mr. Angry'_. Angry in Spanish sounds like this a bit but it would actually be '_enojado'_. In reality, Andrew named his big bad Night Elf to be '_Mr. Fluffy'_. Teehee!


	3. Kennedy Gets a Beatdown

**Chapter 2: Kennedy Gets a Beatdown**

Sofia felt a sense of dread as she took in her room. While it was a decent size the majority of the free space was taken up by ten bunk beds. Since she just had two brothers at home she was definitely not used to sharing space and was happy that she'd only be here for two months before college began. Being that they were in a castle she wasn't terribly surprised to see the walls covered in tapestries that ranged in shades of red and blue. The floor was covered by a scarlet rug and there were five sets of wide closets and four dressers. Now, Sofia was not a fan of math but something told her that amount of space was not enough to hold clothes for twenty girls.

Pulling her suitcase to a stop in front of an empty bed, she plopped down on the mattress. Not bad. She had expected some hell hole type thing with springs popping into her back but it was surprising comfortable. She was still hella tired from the plane ride and had several hours before dinner so she thought this would be a perfect time for a nap.

Unfortunately, her nap didn't last as long as she would have liked because she soon woke up to a very annoying tapping on her shoulder. Blearily she opened her eyes and saw a girl with a healthy tan, brilliant white teeth, and waist length blond hair that fell in loose waves.

"Oh, finally! I've been tapping your arm simply forever," she said in an exasperated tone. Her accent was easy to place; she was definitely from the Deep South.

"Yeah, about that. Why the hell did you wake me up?" The girl seemed stunned by her tone but quite frankly Sofia was not the kind of girl you woke up from a nap.

"Why, because you're in my bed of course!" The girl made it seem like this was the silliest question in the world.

"Uh huh." Sofia sat up in the bed and appraised the girl. She was tall, about 5'9, carried a Coach bag (not that Sofia knew rich-girl purses like that but it was plaid and looked expensive), designer jeans that clung to his legs, and a lacy tank that looked like it was worth a fortune. To top it all off, she had on very high heels. "Well, I don't really see your name on it."

"Maybe not, but I was here first. Besides, I absolutely abhor sleeping on the top bunk," she said in a miffed tone.

Sofia was tempted to throw out a 'yes, your majesty,' but she bit her tongue. Her mama would have been proud. But Sofia figured that if she started something with another girl within her first hour then she could get in trouble. And she definitely needed that scholarship that Mr. Giles had arranged for her to attend Oxford. "Whatever," she said as she stood up. She began to climb onto the bunk above in order to continue her nap before she would be unable to control her crankiness.

"Oh," the southern girl said disdainfully. "Are you going to take that bed?" The way she said 'that' was in the snobbiest voice that Sofia had heard in some time.

"Yeah, what about it? Do you see any other empty beds? Cause I sure don't." Sofia didn't bother to keep the edge out of her voice.

"Well, maybe you could switch with Vi since she's bunking with Caridad. That might be more comfortable for y'all." Halfway up the ladder, Sofia stared down at the girl and noticed how she avoided making eye contact. A part of her brain told her to just let it go, but she was not liking this girl's attitude.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Laurell Anne Moore. What's yours?"

"Sofia Isabella Ramirez. Now, why do you think I should bunk with Caridad?"

Laurell squirmed a little bit and shrugged. "I thought you might wanna be with your own people."

"My own people? Girl-" Sofia's inner bitch was cut off by the door opening and another two girls walking in.

"Hey there!" said the first one and she went to a bed and pulled out a hair tie. She brushed her thick, long black hair into a ponytail. She wore loose linen pants and a long blue tunic. Sofia surmised that she was somewhere from the India-Pakistan region. "I'm Sita from India, although I went to boarding school in England, and this is Heather. She's from Germany and doesn't speak a lick of English."

Heather waved and smiled. Curvier than the rest of the girls in the room, she had very pale skin and light blond hair that barely reached her shoulders. Crystal blue eyes shined with friendliness and she was dressed simply in a jean skirt and a pink tank top.

"Hey there, I'm Sofia from Ohio in the States."

"Hi there," Laurell drawled. "My name's Laurell Moore and I'm from Georgia in the great United States of America."

"Wonderful to meet you both." Sita jerked a thumb in the direction of the door. "Anyways, we're just grabbing a couple things before we go back to watch a sparring match before dinner. Want to come with?"

Sofia eyes lit up. "Sparring? Sweet. I'll definitely come."

Laurell raised an eyebrow. "Ah, I've got some things to work on. Y'all have fun," she called.

As soon as they were out the door Sofia muttered, "Good."

"Good what?" asked Sita.

"Nothing," Sofia said with a smile. Her mama always did say that if you couldn't say anything nice about a person you should say nothing at all… Not that she usually followed that advice though. "So, Sita, did you just get here too?"

"Not quite. Been here for about two weeks and I was one of the first slayers here. Since I attend a school in London I'm real close by."

"You like it here?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, it's not bad. I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything. I met Willow about a month ago and it feels strange having super powers." Sita smiled brightly. "But I do enjoy not needing help to open a pickle jar anymore."

Both girls laughed and Heather just grinned, knowing that some type of joke had been made.

"So what's the scoop on this joint, anyways?"

"Well, girls have been arriving the last two weeks but today is the final big time move in day. Tonight at dinner is our first official event together. I've been talking to Vi a lot, she's real cool, not to mention she's horrible at keeping secrets so we get to learn everything; and things are like this: By the end of today there will be around two-hundred slayers stationed here, and of course more will come as the witches find them. The slayers from the Sunnydale battle are separated into different rooms and are kinda like our 'Resident Advisors', like they have at colleges. Since they're more experienced their job is to mentor us, keep order, and all that jazz. Everyday we have a schedule that starts at 7am and ends at 6pm that involves lots of PE and classroom time."

"Classroom time?" Sofia whined. "But I just graduated from high school! I'm soooo done with that."

"Well then you're pretty lucky. I'm still in secondary."

Sofia gave the Indian girl a longer look, trying to properly judge her age. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen. I'm entering my tenth year at prep school."

"Daaaang, you are young!"

"Didn't you know that most girls get called beginning at the age of fifteen? The majority of us are fifteen and sixteen, with a smattering of girls ages seventeen to nineteen. How old are you?"

"Seventeen. I'll be eighteen in a few weeks."

"Cool! We'll have to do something. Oh, look! Here we are." Sita stopped at the doors of a huge gymnasium that was already teaming with slayers.

* * *

Rona eyed the huge crowd that the word-of-mouth sparring match was attracting. In the East wing on the first floor was a huge gymnasium that Faith had converted into the perfect training arena. Bleachers on the one wall seated at least eighty girls who were eager to see their first match. Rona, along with some of the other more experienced slayers, sat in the first row. White tape on a heavy gym mat outlined a large circle that had weapons carts around the outer edges. The weapons ranged from bo staffs to swords to knives and Rona guessed that Faith had probably outfitted the carts with ninja stars too, knowing her.

Since they had started housing girls two weeks ago the schedule had been pretty calm for the newbies. Anybody who was somebody that mattered had tons of things to worry about regarding preparations for the opening of the Academy. Therefore there hadn't been much time to train and spar with the other girls. Faith, always one to eradicate boredom, had decided to host a sparring match before dinner.

Now, she was getting everyone's attention by whistling very loudly with her two fingers. "Yo! I need all you girls to listen up." Immediately everyone shut up as they took in the authoritative slayer who wore her trademark leather pants and, today, a red tank. "Some of you have been here for a while, some are just arriving today. You're all here because you each have a gift. We're here to teach you how to use it. To prepare you I wanted you to see what a sparring match looks like. Well," she grinned, "and because sparring is wicked fun. Some of the slayers from the Sunnydale Battle will be competing today. Pay very close attention to everything they do."

Faith stepped to the outside of the ring and called out the first two partners. "Kennedy! Caridad!" The two slayers stepped out into the ring, weaponless. They bowed and began circling each other. Kennedy, always the impatient one, struck first and Caridad easily blocked it and delivered a stunning side kick. Falling onto her back, Kennedy kicked out with her legs and Caridad fell to the mat. They both jumped up at the same time and their hands became almost too fast to follow. When Caridad grabbed Kennedy from behind, Kennedy grabbed the blond and flipped her out of the ring. Cheers went up from the bleachers as Kennedy reached down and helped Caridad up.

"Just once," Rona whispered to Vi, "I would like to see Kennedy lose. I mean, sisterly love and all that, but man is her ego big."

Vi stifled a laugh with her hand as Faith stepped back into the ring.

"Congratulations to Kennedy, well done to both you and Caridad. Next up: Rona and Vi!"

"Be gentle with me," Rona said as she winked at Vi.

The taller girl blushed. "Please, I know I'll have bruises when you're done with me."

Rona liked Vi a lot, actually everyone liked the sweet girl. Because of that she used to think twice about sparring with her but when Vi is in battle mode she is completely the opposite of her normal character. It was like she turned into an Amazon and radiated confidence and ferocity. Out of all of them Kennedy was easily the best but she thought given time Vi would be able to outmatch them all someday.

They had opted for the bo staffs since they wanted to show the newer slayers some variety. After bowing, Vi went on the offensive. For several minutes they were evenly matched up. Strike, block, strike, block. Then Rona decided to switch up the dance because they were both too close to the edge of the circle. Twirling behind her, Rona hit her in the back of the knee. As Vi fell down on one knee Rona raised her bow to strike her for a hard fall. Instead, Vi smacked her foot roughly with the staff and Rona jumped in surprise. While mid-jump Vi thrust her bo staff into Rona's solar plexus. With an "oomph" the dreadlocked girl landed out of bounds.

Another round of cheers reverberated through the stands as Vi helped Rona up, per their usual training.

"We extend our congratulations to Vi. Nicely done, both Rona and Vi. Now, for the Ultimate Champion title, both Vi and Kennedy will spar."

Rona rolled her eyes. Faith enjoyed drama, hence her often used training phrase of 'Ultimate Champion'.

Now, after bowing, Kennedy and Vi circled each other and traded blows. Both of them were beginning to get very good at kung fu and Rona was pleased to see them use moves like tiger and crane. Silently she willed Vi to win. She wasn't kidding earlier with Vi. She loved Kennedy in that way that you have to love a relative but not always like them; but she was ready for someone to beat her besides Buffy or Faith. With her superior skills, coming from mad money, and dating one of the top people in the organizations, Kennedy was seeming cockier every day. And that is really saying something.

A jump kick threw Vi across the mat and Rona winced, afraid that she may end up out of bounds. But she didn't, luckily. Flipping up, she ran and somersaulted above Kennedy's head. Landing behind her, Vi chopped Kennedy between the shoulder blade and neck. Kennedy grabbed the area in pain and fell. Rona wondered if she fell from the pain, but she was wrong. Kennedy had feigned the extent of the pain and as Vi reached over her Kennedy kicked with both legs out. Vi's mouth opened in shock as she landed outside the circle.

Kennedy smiled brightly and helped her slayer sister up.

"Well done, both of you. Congratulations to Kennedy for being the Ultimate Champion! Unless…" Her lips curved into a smile. "Is anyone brave enough to challenge Kennedy for that honor tonight?"

The crowd was silent and Rona laughed at how intimidated all the girls looked. They definitely did not look to be ready for any type of fighting. Of course, she hadn't been in the beginning either.

Just as Faith was about to speak a girl stood up. "I'll accept the challenge," she said in a lilting accent. It reminded her of a gangster movie; maybe the girl was Italian? Walking confidently down the stairs she pulled her shoulder length brown hair into a low ponytail. She wore loose black dress pants, a silky red blouse, and black boots. Reaching for her ears she pulled out large gold hoops and set them on the bench next to Rona. As she did that, Rona noticed that she had light brown eyes, full lips covered in dark red lipstick, and a beauty mark was on the left side of her cheek.

Faith nodded with approval. "I like someone with a take charge attitude. What's your name and where are you from?"

Standing in the middle of the circle she amplified her voice so everyone could hear her. "Hello everyone, I'm Antonia Romero, but you all can call me Toni, and I'm from Sicily." She smiled charmingly and oozed with self-assuredness.

"Welcome Toni," Faith said in a cheerful voice. Rona could tell that Faith had already taken a liking to the girl. "Alright, Kennedy and Toni, let's get it on!"

"Look at Kennedy," Rona said with a snort. "She looks so shocked that anyone dares to challenge her."

"It'll be interesting to see how long Toni lasts against her. I'm wagering two minutes," Vi whispered.

"Nah. Kennedy's like a cat. She'll want to play with her food first, just to test her out. Five minutes."

Everyone watched with rapt attention as the two slayers circled each other. They were similar in height similarities and muscle tone. Rona was impressed to see that Toni's footwork was very good. Not to mention, it seemed like she had paid attention to the three previous matches because she waited for Kennedy's impatience to force her hand. As usual, it did.

Kennedy struck out with a tiger claw, but amazingly Toni caught her arm and swung the other girl. As Kennedy tried to regain her balance Toni made two successive side kicks and threw in a roundhouse as Kennedy stumbled back. Rona saw Kennedy's face flame up with aggression. Toni kicked again but this time Kennedy caught her leg and yanked the girl to fall on her back Toni rolled to her right before Kennedy could get in a kick and she jumped up. They began trading punches but most of the time they would block each other very well.

"Damn," gasped Vi. "Who'da thought this would last so long? Looks like we both lost, they're timing in at six minutes now.

Rona was captivated at watching them spar; they were both so graceful and powerful in their moves. Eventually Kennedy had the advantage and Toni's feet were right on the thick line. Kennedy jumped up and kicked out with both legs to finish Toni off, but instead Toni ducked under her and pushed the other girl out of the ring with both hands on her back.

This time, the crowd was silent. Rona didn't think anybody believed what had happened; that Kennedy had gotten a beat down by a rookie. Even Faith herself had seemed shocked. After all, Kennedy had been trained by a watcher the majority of her life and the girl had mad skills.

Faith slowly clapped and everyone else joined in. "Well, well, well. That was interesting. Good match, Kennedy and Toni. Toni, congratulations. You are now our Ultimate Champion."

Kennedy grimaced, obviously not appreciating her loss.

"Thank you Faith." Toni seemed quite pleased with herself, judging by her huge grin and gleaming eyes.

Still with a shocked face, Faith blurted out her next words. "Damn girl! How old are you, anyways? Were you one of the girls trained by a watcher?"

"I'm seventeen. No, I was never trained by a watcher. But my father, he wanted his daughter to learn… What's the word? Self-defense." Her accent seemed thicker as she struggled to remember her English words.

"Alright, cool then." Faith turned back to everyone else. "Everybody, you have thirty minutes until we meet in dining hall. Don't be late!"

Dozens of girls began streaming out the door, chattering wildly and sneaking looks at Toni. Vi gave Rona a sidelong glance. "Looks like you got your wish," she said with a grin.

Rona laughed. "True that! But I can't help but wonder who the hell that girl is. That was majorly fierce!"

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A/N:

Thank you for reading and reviewing!


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